Bird Watching Holidays

Our holidays can take you to some of the world’s best birdwatching destinations – whether you’re on a quest for a kiwi in New Zealand or want to take a peek at puffins in Iceland. Choose from self-drive holidays, stopping whenever you feel the urge to whip out your binoculars, or opt for an escorted holiday with an expert guide.

In Iceland, our self-drive holidays feature top birding spots, such as Lake Myvatn and the wild peninsulas of the north coast. Top ticks range from puffin, fulmar and guillemot to red-throated diver, gyrfalcon and eider duck. Our 22-day Wildlife Encounters self-drive in New Zealand, meanwhile, includes a night-time kiwi-spotting tour and a safari to the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony.

A really fantastic wildlife tour with excellent photo opportunities. The penguins really stole the show. The tour to Volunteer Point from Stanley to see King Penguin colony was another highlight. A beautiful area with another white sandy beach.

Jean Pretty, Wildlife of the Falklands

Recommended Birding Holidays

Birding in Iceland Self Drive

from £1345

excluding flights

7 nights May-Sep

A self drive in Iceland's north is ideal for bird watchers and nature lovers.

Wildlife of the Falklands

Arctic and Nordic Bird Watching

In Iceland, our self-drive holidays feature top birding spots, such as Lake Myvatn and the wild peninsulas of the north coast. Top ticks range from puffin, fulmar and guillemot to red-throated diver, gyrfalcon and eider duck. Our 22-day Wildlife Encounters self-drive in New Zealand, meanwhile, includes a night-time kiwi-spotting tour and a safari to the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony.

To witness one of the world’s most impressive birding spectacles, join one of our expedition-style voyages to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia where some 400,000 breeding pairs of king penguin gather between November and March. An Antarctic voyage can also provide incredible encounters with other species of penguins (from chinstrap to Adelie), as well as other birds like wandering albatross and Antarctic prion. Alternatively, choose an island-hopping trip to see the Wildlife of the Falklands, tracking down penguins, albatrosses and rare endemic species.

The Arctic also promises spectacular birdwatching. Board a small-ship voyage to circumnavigate Spitsbergen – the largest of Svalbard’s islands – to see hundreds of thousands of little auks and guillemots nesting on towering sea cliffs. An expedition-style cruise between Juneau and Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska will give you an excellent chance to spot bald eagle, tufted puffin, Stellar’s jay, great blue heron and marbled murrelet, while a visit to Eastern Finland’s ancient taiga forest can be rewarded with sightings of capercaillie, black grouse, parrot crossbill, Siberian jay and various woodpeckers.

Birding Holidays Further Afield

You might expect Australia’s wetland wonder – Kakadu National Park – to be brimming with birdlife. And you won’t be disappointed. The black-necked stork (known locally as the jabiru) is one of the most distinctive: a huge wading bird, with pink legs, piebald plumage and a glossy head. On our Top End Explorer holiday, you’ll also be able to seek out brolga, magpie goose, white-bellied sea eagle, kookaburras and lorikeets.

In Chile, flocks of flamingos can be found tip-toeing across saline lakes high in the Andes at altitudes of up to 4,500m. Search for the Andean condor, rhea, Austral parakeet and Chilean woodstar hummingbird.

Botswana is also renowned for its stunning birdlife. Combine the Okavango Delta with Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls on our Best of Botswana holiday for a chance to spot wetland wonders like the malachite kingfisher, Pel’s fishing owl, African fish eagle, hammerkop and saddle-billed stork. Namibia, meanwhile, has wetland birdlife (in the Zambezi Region or Caprivi Strip) and coastal species, such as lesser flamingo, Damara tern, Cape cormorant and white pelican. Head to Etosha National Park between November and April when the great saltpan fills with water, attracting flocks of flamingos, blue crane and many other migrant species.

Finally, if you’re looking for a far-flung rarity, fly to the remote mid-Atlantic island of St Helena where the endangered wirebird (or St Helena plover) can be found. Recovering from a critically endangered 235 individuals in 2004, it now numbers over 550. A bird for keen twitchers perhaps – but what a journey to find it!

Wildlife Encounters

from £4369

excluding flights

21 nights Dec-Apr, Oct-Nov

Track down New Zealand's endangered wildlife on this self drive nature tour.

Read our blog

12 of the Best Birdwatching Holidays

You don’t need to be a twitcher. You don’t need to know your guillemot from your gannet, or even own a pair of binoculars. This selection of avian hotspots – in no particular pecking order – will transport you to some of the world’s most spectacular wild places for an unforgettable adventure in the company of beautiful birds!

29 Things You Might Not Have Known About Penguins

Natural Selection: 20 of the World’s Best Wildlife Holidays

Whatever’s on your wildlife wishlist, I think I may have found the perfect holiday. From puffins to polar bears, koalas to king penguins, there’s nothing like an encounter with a truly wild animal to make your heart race and put a big grin on your face.